Boise really is a strange city.

There are mountains everywhere. All the buildings are either really old or really new. They seem to have an intense committment to culture and the arts-whether it be the Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial or the Boise Art Museum.

But after exploring it a little bit the last two days, I do rather like it. It has ample parking, a lot of bars, and it seems safe. It really hasn’t been that cold, but there’s still enough snow to make me happy. The media area at Bronco Stadium is located adjacent to the World Humanitarian Sports Hall of Fame. That has some cool stuff, including a ski suit of Picabo Street, who was voted Idaho’s Female Athlete of the Century back in 1999.

Most importantly, it has a pretty sweet zoo. Today I went to Zoo Boise, which is located in Julia Davis Park- along with most of the other cultural stuff- a short walk from my hotel. I had to go alone because photographer Adam Fried is sick, but I definitely had as much fun as you can have alone at the zoo.

It’s actually a really legit zoo with plenty of African, Asian and rain forest animals. One of only 3 red pandas born this year in captivity in North America was born at the zoo. The cages aren’t huge, so you get much closer to the animals than a lot of zoos I’ve been to. And on top of that, you get to see the animals react to the elements. Most of the cages were still covered with snow and ice when I went. That sent some of the animals inside or to the parts of the cage that had started to thaw. The giraffes weren’t allowed out of their “barn,” which had the two moderately-sized animals taking turns sticking their long necks out to survey the area. Only in Boise could you see a zebra sliding along on ice like a first-time skater. The Tigers seemed mad. The penguins loved it.

A certain columnist was pretty hard on Boise. I say give it a chance. I went to my first Carl’s Jr today. They even tell me there’s a bowl game to be played tomorrow. I haven’t really seen any Terp fans out here in travels. But something tells me you won’t get the full Boise Experience from catching tomorrow’s Humanitarian Bowl on TV.

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